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A Reader from Kansas asks about:
Double Trouble: Can't remember letter sounds or sight words
"I, too, am a reading specialist, and I've run into a very vexing problem. I'm working with
a 6th grade who has been receiving tutoring help since first grade, yet he still struggles. He has
a very hard time remembering letter sounds and using phonics, and his memory of basic sight words
is also very weak. What isn't weak is his desire to learn to read, and his dogged perseverance is
inspirational. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing's seemed to help much. Do you have
any suggestions?"
You're student sounds like an amazing kid! To still be motivated after trying and trying like he has is truly admirable. I also credit you and the other teachers who have worked with him, and steered him away from discouragement. That alone is a huge success.
The type of disability you described is the most difficult of all to remediate. These students are often very bright, have an above average auditory memory, and yet can’t remember the sounds of letters. Basic sight word recall can also be inconsistent – sometimes they know the words and sometimes they don’t.
I have found a two-step strategy to be helpful with students like this. It isn’t a magic bullet, I’m still researching desperately for one of those, but it does help the child move into independent reading. The goal is to minimize the use of phonics, and put more emphasis on meaning and context. Because he memorizes stories he's heard so well, this suggests that following the storyline is a strength we can build upon.
I'd begin doing a lot of cloze sentences like this. Write on the board something like,
The _________ was black and furry.
Ask your student what words might fit into the blank. Dog, puppy, kitten, hat, etc.? Then add the letter b to the beginning of the line,
The b_______ was black and furry.
Ask, "Now what word could fit into the blank?" The possibilities have narrowed - bunny, bear, bobcat, etc.
At this point you have a couple of options. You can continue adding letters until the student figures out the word, or you can add an additional sentence to confirm the missing word, such as:
The b______ was black and furry. It hopped quickly into its hole.
Ask, "With these additional clues, what do you think the b word is?" Most likely
he'll choose "bunny."
Practice with individual sentences like this as long as you feel you need to. I’ll usually do one or two as daily warm-ups all year long. You can pull sentences from books so you don't have to make them up yourself.
Next, practice using a book. As your student reads, when he comes to a difficult word, ask him to look at just the first letter of the word (I usually have students cover the other letters with their finger), and then read to the end of the sentence. Now have him think of words that would make sense given the context of the sentence and the word’s first sound. If a reasonable word doesn’t come to mind, then look at the first two or three letters, sound them out, or move ahead and read the next sentence to see if that will provide additional clues.
Notice that I used the word “reasonable” above when it comes to projecting what the target word might be. Often a student will come up with a word that isn’t the actual word. If the child is in 4th grade or above, and has the degree of reading disability that you described, I will praise him for his use of the strategy, and then have him keep going in the story. I’ll not tell him that the word is wrong. The point is to give him a way to make it through a book on his own, which is huge. Yes, not every word is figured out correctly, but the majority of them are. I’ve seen highly disabled readers “get into” a book for the first time by doing the strategies described.
Give these a try, and please let me know how it goes. If you have additional questions, or need some further support, please write back. I wish you and your student the very best!
Sincerely,
Deborah
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